Her own miniature Christmas tree, a new holiday wardrobe, a closet full of clothes. For a woman we meet early in the 2007 documentary "What Would Jesus Buy?" money is clearly no object when it comes to spoiling her beloved Lola. Will the recipient appreciate such generosity? Unlikely. Lola is a dog.
That such a spirit of excess has taken over Christmas was established long ago. But what can be done to curtail rampant consumerism, not to mention the crushing debt and physical and emotional anguish that often accompanies it? Rev. Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping in New York City and his followers board two buses and spend four weeks traveling across the country in an attempt to show Americans the error of their financial ways and save them from what the church calls the "Shopocalypse."
Background of a Movement
According to the church's official Web site, Revbilly.com, Bill Talen hitchhiked to the Big Apple and found that consumerism had taken over even iconic Times Square. Distressed by this, and inspired by the street preachers around him, Talen took action in 1999. He bleached his hair, bought a collar to match his white caterer's jacket and used a portable pulpit to preach on subways.
Rev. Billy is the reason for the movie's success. He's a natural onscreen, and the intensity and conviction he brings to his sermons about the evils of corporate consumerism - reminiscent of a real fire-and-brimstone preacher - make him fascinating to watch in action. One of his highlights is a scene of him performing an "exorcism," commanding audience members to wave their credit cards in the air with the magnetic strips facing him. It's no surprise to hear a newscaster describe him as the "only reverend with a court order barring him from entering any Starbucks in California."
What began as a solo endeavor now includes the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, comprised of members from various backgrounds and six continents (Antarctica excluded). They are very talented, as we see during their opening number and later when they go door-to-door singing anti-consumerism variations on Christmas classics such as "Joy to the World" and "Deck the Halls." Described on its site as a "post-religious" church, the Church of Stop Shopping will perform almost anywhere, whether it be a concert hall, theatre or community center or a forest, field or parking lot. Perhaps the most important venue, to them, is inside stores. Naturally, store security guards aren't pleased with this and sometimes arrest members.
Despite his criminal record, Rev. Billy was the Green Party candidate for New York City mayor in 2009. He didn't win, but the church has won an Obie Award, a Glickman Award and the Alpert Award in the Arts.
Deeper Issues
One of the producers of "What Would Jesus Buy?" is Morgan Spurlock, and the movie is somewhat of a companion piece to his "Super Size Me." Both documentaries use a gimmick as an excuse to explore an important issue. This movie informs us that the average American spends less than a hour a week in spiritual or religious time and more than 5 hours a week shopping. It's unlikely that even the ensuing Great Recession made much of a debt in these habits. One especially important point is the marketing to children. The amount of time an average child spends exposed to media, according to the movie, is 60 times greater than the time engaged in meaningful conversation with their parents. In other words, they're easy targets for the annual multi-billion dollar ad campaign directed to Americans younger than 12. Theologians, child psychiatrists, senators, shopping addiction therapists and authors offer their perspectives, as do people on the street.
On the Road
The church's commitment to their trip's mission is strong enough that not even a collision with an 18-wheel truck that sends 13 members to the hospital can derail it. Their first major stop is the Mall of America in Minnesota, where the choir sings while riding escalators and Rev. Billy shouts warnings through a megaphone before security removes all of them.
Another landmark visited is Walmart headquarters in Arkansas, although this scene doesn't provide the emotional impact we might expect. More powerful is a funeral service Rev. Billy holds in a nearby graveyard for small-town America. He charges that Walmart has destroyed the American Dream. One member explains that part of the church's mission is to shop at stores that sell products made in America and where the money spent will go back into the community, stores that have become increasingly hard to find with the proliferation of big-box retailers. The issue of big-box stores like Walmart relying on slave labor in poor countries to create their products is also explored.
However, the biggest protest comes at Disneyland during the park's annual Christmas Day parade (Rev. Billy had earlier called Mickey Mouse the "anti-Christ"). We see him leading a march down Main Street shouting at the hordes of people gathered on the sidewalks: "Main Streets across America are empty, shuttered and outsourced. Let's go shop at home. The corporations stole Christmas." After he's arrested, the choir holds a vigil for him outside Anaheim Jail.
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